Police Arrest 7 Activists in Park Dispute

The holiday spirit ended abruptly for seven community activists who were arrested just after Christmas while feeding the homeless in Pershing Square.

Members of Food Not Bombs, a national activist group that works to feed and bring attention to the homeless, were arrested about 5:30 p.m. Sunday when they refused to move from their regular meal distribution site near an ice skating rink.

Members who comprise the Los Angeles chapter of the organization say they have been feeding the homeless at the north end of the park twice a week for the last two years. They only encounter problems, they say, when the “Downtown on Ice” skating rink is set up there for the holidays.

Park officials said that’s because the ice rink operators have a permit allowing them to use that area until Jan. 17, and anyone who operates there is interfering with the granted permit under a municipal code. But the activists say have read the code and don’t believe they are in violation. Some of them accuse park officials of trying to push the city’s homeless out of sight.

” 1/8Homelessness 3/8 is an issue that should be looked at, not kept under wraps,” said member Kendra Jacobs. “This is their home, and the . . . rink comes and forces them to hide in the shadows.”

Officials say the issue is not political. Under Municipal Code section 63.44 “no person shall use any area or facility . . . designated for a specific recreational or park purpose by the Board Department.”

“It’s pretty specific,” Jane Kolb, spokesperson for the Department of Recreation and Parks, said of the code.

The arrests came just one week after one of the group’s members was arrested for the same thing. As a result, rangers and activists held a mediation last Wednesday where they discussed an alternative food distribution site in the park. Nevertheless, the activists returned to their old spot on Sunday, saying they had understood that it was all right if they didn’t block walkways near the rink.

Kolb said that Sunday night, park rangers again asked the group not to set up near the rink, where a band would perform. The group members were told they could serve their vegetarian meals from a makeshift concession area in the square away from the rink, Kolb said, but they refused.

“‘Do you really want the police involved?”’ Kolb recalls asking them. “It was like they weren’t listening.”

Park rangers and Los Angeles police then arrested them.

But the activists recall the events differently. They say park rangers were out in full force waiting for them when they arrived. They described the arrests as a “sweep” that caught activists who were outside the disputed zone.

They also say they don’t understand why they can’t feed the homeless wherever they want in a public park.

“Feeding people in poverty shouldn’t violate any park permits anywhere,” said David Busch, who was arrested. “It’s very disturbing to see that a group trying to feed the homeless is arrested. It sends a terrible message.”

Seven were booked “for standing in an area designated for use by permit only,” according to Sgt. Rick Harris. Bail was set at $100 each.

“I’m surprised that it’s gone this far,” Kolb said. “I would hope they would go right on feeding the homeless” in another area of the park. “We have no objection to that.”